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Archive for December, 2012

Christmas came and went in a blur of beer, whisky and wine. Everyday I’ve been trying to destroy my body to wash away the gloom of christm£s. Nah I actually like crimbo- seeing auld faces and la famillia, but its still a weird time to be a young adult- coming to terms that rebellious teenager you once were is dead, thts the circle of life tho eh! Wonder how long it’l be till I see a group of teenage punks drinking in an alley and I’ll think- hey tht used to be me!

Well I’ve not done anything creative this season so far except making a few collages (love it). Right now I’m walking down to stellas- I’ve got my bag filled with a thousand random bits of paper that I will turn into a collage. Time I tell ye the process behind making a bing tidy collage.

1- pick up everything! Your up town pop into a hostel and take everything they have that’s free. Catalogues, event flyers, brochures, maps, newspapers, anything. Keep them eyes peeled for anything graphic, anything that makes you laugh, squirm , question, talk about. Be a collector not a horder. Collect images from everywhere- even newspapers are good for this. Next time yer at a gig grab a fistful of flyers.

2- lay all your stuff on the floor at home, look for patterns in what you’ve found- you might see humour, you might see a tragedy. Whatever it is take all the stuff you’ve collected and skim the best.

3- nowyouve got the raw elements for a yummy image stew! Arrange them on your paper in a way tht makes sense to you personally. I like ti try and fill the page completely. Leave no white spots.

4- cut it out and stick it down. Pritt sticks the best for this. Just have fun, make your own process for this step. I like to let the cuttings decide, don’t like to steer it too much- just let the piece decide itself. You can’t structure anarchy- and thts the theme of most my works, and my life really.

5- have fun with it. No one will ever buy this art so make it for yourself.

Todays the last day of term. Project is going fine, got a strong idea that I’m sticking too, and we’ve got an extra bonus week to get it nailed. Some folk been stressing about goji. I’ve not- I know the brief is vague but, ya gotta take that as a challenge. In the real world, people who write design briefs prolly think helvetica is a swiss delicacy. I’m gutted that I won’t be able to do any digital from home cuz of not having the right programs. God damn adobe- they make a rapid program then make it so expensive folk like me can’t even afford it! Being poor sucks, but at least I can look rough and ragged without paying for it like a f*cking hipster.

So goji is half done, gonna have to just do loads of hand drawn stuff during christmas. Unless I get a trial of PS + I’d and crack them like an Easter egg. I’ve got quite a lot of work ahead of me, but nothing I can’t take. No time for kindergarden cop, you gotta be terminator when ya get cracking with our work. I like to imagine I’m tony montanna at the end of scarface, and the briefs, designs and challenges are Soso’s drug runner army. Cept I won’t be floating face down in a fountain. Dats for sure. I’ve been approaching everything the college throws at me like Mr white dancing with a wicked smile, razor blade and two step dance. But I’ve gotta change pace and ethic to michael corleone , the bit at the end where he’s like- this one time you can ask me about my affairs’.

Christmas for me traditionally meant getting drunk and watching gremlins, but this year I plan on utikising my time better, gather all the materials, research and ideas together in a tight bundle, so that when am sitting down by mac I’ve got everything in order, the hard works done, its just a question of bringing it all together.

Oh and the world end tomorrow. Bout damn time if you ask me! (Folks usually don’t)

Been working on the Goji brief today, bout time I updated my technology- been trying to cram everything into a 2GB pen drive. Not ideal when am working with psd and Id files. Specially not the with my non destructive approach. Today I made one of three textures, still got two to get through! Got a feeling its gonna be a hecktic run up ti crimbo. But that’s the breaks. No one got anything worthwhile without determination.
I used to be a labourer for christ sakes!!! Hard work should come easy. But where before my body was bruised and knackered , here at college its my brain that gets tired.

Some yoga and company with a couple of old friends should calm my nerves tonight, then its back to the saw mill. But I enjoy my work, I really do, Graphic designers are hard grafters like! You need the drive of Henry rollins , the cunning of Ronnie Cray and the brain of a fucking scientist if your going to survive.

I’ve also got an assignment essay for two weeks from now. I’ve chosen to write mine on underground press- from WW2, via punk zines , up to the rise of the internet. And what am I going to do to make mine stand out? Run it through indesign of course! A snazzy lay out coupled with some braw pictures oughta do it.

It gets hard, but I’ll never give in, never give up.
Except for tonight.

Its that time of the year again. With the mayans promising Armageddon, telly promising the film of the same name, my bank going into meltdown and the weather looking arctic, its a swell time to stay in doors and get cracking on college projects.

We got the choice of two packaging briefs- design an in-flight care package for BMI airliners, the other for pc worlds in house brand Goji. It was a tough choice , I would have loved to do both ! But I chose Goji. They make earphones and gadget cases , targeted at a young audience.

We have to design a pattern to apply to the line packages, new packaging , some kinda promotional gear and some other bits n bobs. It feels good to start a new project, I get this rapid feeling, my head buzzing with possibilities. I’ve got a look and feel am already leaning too but time will tell if I stick with it.

As I write this am waking up from a severe hangover, think I lost a game of cards and as a punishment got some tribal face paint put on, problem is it was some fake tan they put on me! I gotta quit drinking.